It may be observed with regard to these small craft furnished with such enormous steam-power (in proportion to their size and tonnage) that there is much uncertainty as to the speeds which they will attain. Not only are the builders without experience of similar vessels by which to guide themselves, but where the proportion of power to displacement is so great, slight differences both in hulls and machinery, no less than in immersion and trim, may produce unforeseen results. As designers who fail to realize promised speeds are liable to be discredited, while those whose vessels surpass their promised speeds may be unduly praised, it is but reasonable to expect that the promised speeds will usually even be more than realized. This has been the case with the Bombe, the first of the French torpedo despatch-vessels which have been tried under steam, and which, under the promise of 18 knots, realized no less than 19½ knots on the measured mile. It should be added that all of these extremely fast small craft in both navies are propelled by twin engines and screws. As great public interest will be felt in the trials of these very novel and special vessels—as mere steamers no less than as war craft—it may be well to give their names, to facilitate their identification hereafter.

English Torpedo Gun-boats: Grasshopper, Rattlesnake, Spider, Sandfly—each having a displacement of 450 tons, 2700 horse-power, 200 feet length, 23 feet breadth, 8 feet draught, and a speed estimated at 19 knots.

French Torpedo Despatch-Vessels: Bombe, Couleuvrine, Dague, Dragonne, Flèche, Lance, Saint-Barbe, Salve—each having a displacement of 320 tons, 1800 horse-power, 194.3 feet length, 21.4 feet breadth, 5.1 feet draught, and, with the exception of the Bombe, a speed estimated at 18 knots. The actual speed of the Bombe is 19.5 knots.

Besides the above vessels, the two navies (English and French) are provided as follows with torpedo-boats: The English have nine small (56 feet long) and slow (14½ to 15 knots) of wood; fifty small (60 to 66 feet long) and slow (15 to 16 knots) of steel; nineteen others of greater length, but all less than 93 feet, and of speeds varying from 16 to 19 knots; six of 100 to 113 feet, and 19 knots; fifty-three of 125 feet in length, and 19 knots; and two building, viz., one of 135 feet in length, and 22 knots, and one of 150 feet in length, and 20 knots; in all, one hundred and thirty-nine torpedo-boats, of which the 135-feet boat carries four 3-pounder quick-firing guns, and the 150-feet boat carries five 6-pounder guns of that kind. The French have nine under 70 feet in length; forty-one under 100 feet in length, steaming at 17 to 18 knots; eighteen of 108 feet in length, somewhat faster; nine of 113 feet in length, steaming at 22 knots; and fifty-one of 114 feet in length, steaming at 20 knots; in all, one hundred and twenty-eight torpedo-boats, all armed with machine guns only. As the nine slow wooden boats of the English navy can hardly be regarded as torpedo-boats at all, it may be said that of torpedo-boats, built and building, the English have one hundred and thirty, and the French one hundred and twenty-eight, of which the English have seventy-nine completed, and fifty-one building and completing, and the French have sixty-eight completed, and sixty building and completing. The English navy is therefore slightly, but only slightly, in advance of the French in the matter of torpedo-boats proper, while in respect of extremely fast sea-going torpedo-vessels of 320 and 450 tons respectively, the English have three under construction and one completed, while the French have one (the Bombe) completed and seven under construction.

NOTES.

Of the 150,000,000 francs appropriated in France this year for the construction of war-ships nearly nine-tenths were set aside, not for the building of large armored vessels, but for the following fast cruisers and auxiliary classes: “Six cruisers, class I., 30,000,000 francs; ten cruisers, class II., 26,000,000 francs; twenty torpedo-catchers, 12,000,000 francs; fifty gun-boats, 15,000,000 francs; one hundred torpedo-boats, 25,000,000 francs; three coast-defence vessels, 25,000,000 francs.”

Notwithstanding the late change in administration this seems to show that the policy of Admiral Aube, referred to in the introductory chapter, is still potent, and that the government believes the next war with England will be carried on by French cruisers attacking British commerce, and that sharp, destructive dashes will be made against the enemy’s coast by ships with great speed, and such sufficient power that “all of England’s littoral towns, fortified and unfortified, whether purely peace establishments or warlike,” will be burned or pitilessly ransomed. “In any future war,” continues this exponent of the new ideas, “France will come down from the heights of the cloudy sentimentality which has created that monstrous association of words, rights of war, and her attack on every source of English riches will become not only legitimate but obligatory.”

It is certain that French naval activity is now mainly directed to the construction of vessels just suited to these new theories. At the same time she has a formidable fleet of heavily armored vessels, a rough comparison with those of England being as follows, in the classes which have over fifteen inches of armor protection and carry guns above forty-three tons in weight:

Ships.Armor.No. Guns.Weight.
321½ inches 6 breech-loading rifles75 tons.
520 ” 8 ””75 ”
618 ” 8 ””50 ”
215 ”24 ””48 ”
1646